Heat Pump HVAC fAQ

We do our best to answer questions and to clear up heat pump myths that are so prevalent out there. The short version is that if designed correctly, heat pumps are more straightforward than you might think. But read below for a full list of questions. And if you’re ready to get started, reach out!

Xerxes commissioning a diy heat pump install in Nederland, CO. He's kneeling at the condenser unit pulling a vacuum.

A heat pump is the latest energy-efficient technology that heats and cools your home as one installed system. Unlike furnaces or boilers that burn fossil fuels to physically heat the air, it uses electricity to move heat from the inside of your home to the outside (in cooling mode), or from outside to the inside (in heating mode). Think of a very efficient traditional air conditioner, with the ability to work in reverse (for heating)!

In short, they can work great! If you design and install it correctly for your particular home. The technology to work down to -15 to -22F or colder is here now and readily available. As a company we also only install the best cold climate heat pumps because our climate demands it, whether you’re in the Denver Metro, in the foothills, or up in the mountains.

But to make sure they operate efficiently and properly, you must have the correct engineering done. We do this for all of our installs and it can take many hours of work (between the home visit and engineering) to make sure it’s done right. This is not something you want to skip on.

The big one right now is through Xcel Energy (if you have them for your utility service). Their rebate is based on a calculation of how the heat pump performs at 5 degrees Fahrenheit, among other calculations. For typical single family homes around the Denver Metro, rebates average between $6,000 and $10,000 currently with the bonuses Xcel has for a limited time.

There are also federal tax credits, a State of Colorado Tax credit, and local County and City rebates as well. It all depends on where you live within Colorado, and we help work all that out for you.

Please see our full article here for more rebates around Colorado for Xcel Energy, and check out our Learn section to see all of our different articles on rebates, incentives, and tax credits.

Yes indeed! A heat pump is an electrified heating and cooling system. It looks a lot like your normal air conditioner outdoor and indoor unit, and installs into the same ductwork (for ducted/central systems) in the same location as your unit is now.

You do not need a separate furnace, A/C system, boiler, or any other heating and cooling system with a properly designed and sized new heat pump unit in your home.

It depends on your home size, heating and cooling BTU needs, ducted vs. ductless/mini split systems, and many more variables that we engineer. With current rebates in different cities around the Denver Metro, the net cost after all incentives often lands at the cost of a basic/inefficient A/C and furnace combo.

It’s generally very worth it to at least compare the cheapest equipment and install options to the most efficient and latest technology electrified heat pump systems given all the great incentives.

The latest equipment is relatively quiet, and most likely quieter than your existing furnace and/or A/C combo. The new average outdoor units operates at 40-50 decibels when at max capacity (ultra-cold days where the outdoor condenser is operating at 100% capacity). The indoor units operate quietly at a low hum.

This all assumes that the new system is properly sized and designed for your home’s particular needs. Undersized systems will run for a long time at nearly max capacity, while oversized systems can “short cycle” and turn on and off many times an hour, creating more noise and becoming annoying, along with heavily reducing overall comfort, among other factors.

With a good install team, and a properly designed system that not only meets your heating and cooling home demands but works with your existing ductwork, and proper maintenance, current estimates are 15-20 years for a state-of-the-art cold climate heat pump HVAC system. This is similar to any HVAC replacement system you may install.

The short answer is yes! But only if you also remove other gas appliances in the room or in the home. Proper venting to the utility room or HVAC room also must remain when you are burning fossil fuels in your home.

If you want to fully electrify your home, a common approach is to replace your HVAC system with a new cold climate heat pump, replace your old water heater with a heat pump water heater, replace your gas stovetop with an induction stovetop, and you can remove other gas fireplaces and gas appliances if you like (and if it’s safe to do so).

You sure can. In fact, the State of Colorado has provided $30M to the Colorado Green Energy Bank known as the Colorado Clean Energy Fund RENU financing. This programs has many benefits over traditional equipment financing, such as:

Up to 15 year loan terms
No prepayment penalties
Very loan low costs to get started
Works with many local credit unions
Lower interest rates vs. traditional financing

We are an approved RENU contractor and this is by far our most recommended way to finance your heat pump in Colorado. You can read more about this program here, or contact us to ask about how you can finance your own heat pump.